Shadow of the Eye
by Son of Xana
Summary: The Lyoko gang meets a shy new kid, but does he have a secret? Or two... or three... Rating will go up as story continues (CHAPTER 5 UP!)
1. Prologue

Prologue 

Thirteen years before Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, and Jeremie discovered Aelita and the gateway to the parallel universe of Lyoko, Xana put has greatest and deadliest plan into action. That story begins in a hospital, maternity ward. A child has just been born, but he has entered the world alone. The mother, exhausted and weak from her ordeal, passed away seconds after giving birth. The father has yet to be located. The baby, despite this, would prove to be far more powerful than anyone could have imagined.

* * *

Dr. Neoff knocked softly on the glass of the nursery. He had a job to finish. He was in charge of the newborn infant's delivery. Sadly, the boy's mother had not survived her incredible effort to bring him into the world, but Neoff was determined not to let the same fate befall his charge. At the moment, though, he was not sure he would succeed. The child's heartbeat was irregular and slow, and he had not made a sound since he first saw the light of day. Presently, the boy was in a special nursery designed to bring failing newborns back to health. Dr. Neoff could only hope the nursery, and the sole resident in it, would do their jobs.

He knocked again, and the frantic resident spared a moment to look at him. Neoff shrugged, and mouthed, "How's he doing?" The resident bit her bottom lip and shook her head, then immediately went back to caring for the baby. Neoff watched in awe as the resident dashed from wall to wall, probing the boy with this and injecting him with that. She seemed to work with inhuman speed, but it seemed that the small baby's heart would fail despite all the resident's best efforts. Neoff watched as the numbers on the child's heart monitor slowly trickled away, down and down and down until...

Even though he couldn't hear it, Dr. Neoff still felt a thrill of sheer terror as he imagined the horrible, monotone beep that signified cardiac arrest. The resident, pale as a ghost, looked up at him, and he replied by mouthing "Shock him! Now!" The resident went even paler at the thought of the risky procedure, but then she nodded, face set, and ran to get the proper equipment. Neoff felt his palms going sweaty as she ran back with the tool, and as she placed the two ends of the defibrillator on his small chest, he felt ready to burst with anxiety. "Three..." the resident held up three fingers. "Two...one..." Dr. Neoff crossed his own fingers in his lab coat pockets. "Clear." There was a sharp buzz, and the baby jerked, whimpered, and lay still. Nothing.

Neoff covered his face with his hands, choking back a sob. He had failed! The boy was dead! Neoff didn't know why it bothered him so much. He had seen this before. Being a doctor, he witnessed death all the time, but this time... this time he thought he could change the inevitable. He lifted his head to take one last look at the child he almost saved...and nearly had a heart attack himself. The boy was alive! He could see on the monitor that his heart rate was slowly stabilizing. The resident had collapsed into a chair, grinning broadly, but still shaking. Dr Neoff couldn't help leaping into the air.

"WE SAVED IT! YAHOO!" When he landed, he found himself crying with joy. Finally! He had beaten death! But... Suddenly the baby's eyes snapped open. All... three of them? No... it couldn't be... Accompanying the child's icy blue eyes was a piercingly bright, glowing red image on his forehead! All at once the boy opened his mouth and let loose an earsplitting shriek! Dr. Neoff had to cover his ears. Even through the soundproof glass, the noise was deafening. Then the floor under his feet began to tremble. Neoff had just enough time to wonder what in the world was happening when, without warning, a tremendous, invisible energy wave pulsed out from the infant. The resident was flung like a rag doll through the window into Dr. Neoff as computers exploded and the nursery's tile floor crumbled to dust...

As sirens blared and overhead sprinklers went off all throughout the hospital, Neoff sat, dumbfounded, amidst the wreckage. The unconscious resident lay across his lap, blood from her wounds staining his luminecent lab coat scarlet. He gazed, horrified, at the glowing red image on the crying infant's brow, the only thing visible through the dust, and shook his head. "I saved it," he whispered, and shuddered. "What have I done?"  
  
To be continued...


	2. Matt

Well, here it is, Chapter 2, which is actually Chapter 1 because the first one was just a prolouge. I'm so sorry it took me this long to get it out, but I just had a huge writer's block. I can't post anything for a week (a summer camp) but as soon as I get back I'll move my story right along. Again, sorry for the delay, and enjoy Chapter 1: Matt!!!!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko, just the twisted things I add to it! (Muahahaha!)

* * *

Ulrich and Odd dashed across the grounds of Cadick Jr. High, pulling on miscellaneous articles of clothing as they ran. They were late for science class (again), but for once they had a valid excuse. Unfortunately, if they tried to use it to justify their tardiness, their teacher would just tell them to take their seats and put their ample creativity to better uses.

The truth was, Ulrich, Odd, and their two friends Jeremie and Yumi had been awakened in the middle of the night by an explosion, and had spent the rest of the night fighting Xana. Needless to say, when they returned to the past, they were dead tired, and had overslept (at least Odd and Ulrich had).

"You know...Xana...is really...starting to bug me," huffed Odd, hopping along as he pulled on his right shoe.

"So...what else...is new?" Ulrich panted as he donned his favorite olive over shirt.

"He always attacks...at the most...inconvenient...moments," Odd wheezed, now running a comb through his blonde hair.

"Gee...well...maybe...if we ask real nice...he'll only try and kill us... when we say it's O.K.," said Ulrich, rolling his eyes.

"I mean," continued Odd, as though Ulrich hadn't spoken, "He had to attack...in the middle of the night...on a Sunday! If it could have been Friday...or Saturday...but noooo...it had to be...the day before...Monday. It's bad enough...he attacks at all...but to interrupt...our sleep...of all things...when he does...that's just -"

"Odd," Ulrich interrupted as they skidded to a halt outside the classroom door, "Shut up." Ulrich pulled open the door and the two of them stumbled into the classroom.

"Where have you been?" cried their frazzle-haired teacher, Mrs. Hertz. "Class started twenty minutes ago!"

"We overslept," gasped Ulrich.

"Yeah," sighed Odd in defeat, "Overslept."

"Very well," Mrs. Hertz grunted. "Now take you seats." As the pair shuffled off to their chairs accompanied by sniggers from around the room, they caught a nod from Jeremie. They took the seats directly behind him, and, as Mrs. Hertz was busy with the blackboard, they leaned their heads forward to talk.

"Bad luck," whispered Jeremie, grinning. "Overslept, huh? Adequate, but only half true."

"You would have preferred it if we had told her the whole story?" said Ulrich, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, no, but-" he was interrupted by Odd.

"You see, Jeremie, while our version isn't completely true, it is one- hundred percent believable."

"Oh, come on! I was just kidding!" cried Jeremie.

"What is going on back there?" The sharp voice of Mrs. Hertz cut their conversation short.

"Nothing Ma'am!" they chorused, quickly sitting back in their seats. Mrs. Hertz narrowed her eyes suspiciously. In response, Odd gave her the cheesiest grin he could muster.

"Honest! We were being good little boys...like always!" Mrs. Hertz gave a snort of laughter, shook her head, and returned to the blackboard.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. As Mrs. Hertz went to answer it, Ulrich, Odd and Jeremie all leaned to the side to get a better view of the newcomer.

"I wonder who it could be?" asked Jeremie, thinking out loud. When the door was pulled open, however, Mrs. Hertz's billowing lab coat completely blocked their view.

"Ah! Yes! I've been wondering when you'd arrive!" The mystery visitor gave a quiet response, and Mrs. Hertz chuckled softly. "Well it doesn't really matter anyway. Please, come in!" Mrs. Hertz whirled around and walked back to her desk, followed by a small, slightly overweight boy. The kid stood in front of Mrs. Hertz's desk, facing the class. "Everyone, I would like you to meet a our new student. His name is Matt, and I want you all to make him feel as welcome as possible."

The Lyoko kids could now get a good look at the new student. He was wearing long, camo-colored cargo shorts with his hands buried in the pockets, and a plain navy tee. On his feet was a pair of tattered brown shoes, topped of by ankle-high socks. Perched on his head was a navy baseball cap, with the bill facing forward. His face was wide, round, and very friendly looking, and the hair they could see below his hat was brown. However, Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremie took in very little of that. Their attention was on his eyes. His ice-blue eyes.

Despite the small, friendly smile he wore now, his eyes had a different, less open quality about them. They seemed to have a keen alertness, almost wariness emanating from them, like he didn't trust a soul in the room. It was creepy, and as Matt was gazing around, taking in all the new faces, the Lyoko boys felt shivers run down their spines as his eyes met theirs. They could tell his slight grin was only a mask, and they had no real urge to meet the person behind it, at least for now.

"Hi, everyone. Glad to meet you all." His voice was deep for a kid his age, and although he sounded genuine, the irony of his second statement almost caused Odd to burst out laughing. The strange thing was, even though Odd didn't make a sound, Matt still looked at him as though he had just been insulted. When his accusing gaze finally lifted, leaving Odd squirming uncomfortably, he turned back to Mrs. Hertz. "So, where am I going to sit?"

Mrs. Hertz scanned the room, looking for an empty seat. "Ah! The spot next to Jeremie is open. You can sit there for today." She pointed the vacant chair out, and Matt walked over to it and sat down. Jeremie felt distinctly nervous about having Matt in such a close proximity, and the feeling was not lessoned when Matt turned to him and gave him a stare that seemed more penetrating than an X-ray machine. Suddenly, Jeremie felt an odd tingling all over his head.

"Ow!" he mumbled, touching his temples. All at once, Matt's expression changed. He now had genuine kindness shining from even his icy eyes. Jeremie had just enough time to wonder what had brought about the abrupt change of disposition when Matt stuck his hand out, and Jeremie, more out of instinct than acceptance, shook it. Matt grinned at him. "Hiya Jeremie. Nice to meet you." With that, he took his seat.

The rest of the lesson continued without incident, unless you counted Matt's sudden acceptance of Jeremie. Whenever Matt had a question, he always asked Jeremie, and only Jeremie. In fact, Jeremie was the only person he even looked at with his friendly smile. Everyone else still got the cold, unfriendly stare. When science finally ended, Jeremie shot out the door, eager to be as far away as possible from Matt. As he was walking through the grounds, he met up with Odd and Ulrich.

"Man, that Matt kid was weird," Odd exclaimed.

"No kidding," replied Ulrich. "Jeremie must have been the only person in science he didn't glower at."

"At least not for the whole class period," Jeremie said in response. "Remember, he didn't start liking me until after he came to sit with me. Also... well, it was weird. He walked up to me, staring at me as cold as ever, but then all at once he started smiling like we were old buddies! Either he has some type of mental disorder or-"

"Hello, Jeremie. Are these friends of yours?" The three Lyoko kids whipped around to see Matt standing not five feet from them. He had a jovial smile plastered on his face, but the minute he saw Odd his eyes narrowed into slits. "You I remember," he said, scowling, "But if Jeremie likes you... you can't really be all that bad..."

Odd stole a glance at the others, clearly dumbfounded. Suddenly he grabbed his head.

"What is it?" Ulrich asked, looking concerned.

"N – nothing, I... it just tingled for a moment, that's all."

Jeremie glanced at Matt after hearing this. When he saw Matt's friendly smile now directed at Odd, his eyebrows shot into the air. "Nice to meet you, Odd!" Matt cried, before turning his attention to Ulrich. "You I don't recognize."

"Oh, me? I... I'm ...Ow!" Ulrich raised a hand to the back of his head.

"Ulrich! Yes, Ulrich. Nice to meet you." Matt said, beaming at him. "Well," said Matt, pulling out his schedule, "I'm off to...Algebra..." Jeremie felt his head tingle. "Cool!" Matt cried, "See you there, Jeremie, and you too, Odd and Ulrich! Bye!" and he dashed off, leaving the others with incredulous looks on their faces.

"I don't remember telling him my name," said Odd, puzzled.

"And I certainly don't remember telling him our schedule. He knew we were going to Algebra!" Ulrich growled.

Jeremie was startled to see Ulrich and Odd both glaring at him.

"Why on Earth would you tell the weirdo a thing like our schedule, eh Einstein? Now he can follow us around all day if he wants to!" Odd cried, throwing his hands into the air.

"But I... I didn't... I'm just as confused as you..." The three boys watched Matt's retreating back, trying to make some sense of the last five minutes.


	3. Matt's Little Surprises

Chapter Three is finally up! Yay! This one might not be as good as the others because half of it was written through a writer's block and the other half was typed at 6 in the morning. It does, however, get the story developments through, so R&R!!!  
(P.S. I finally figured out how to single-space!)

* * *

When the lunch bell finally rang, Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremie dashed to the cafeteria. They were eager to be away from Matt more than ever, because they had spent the entire morning in his company. They had been mortified to find that Matt's whole schedule was identical to theirs, and the kid seemed to be a jinx! Wherever he went, headaches followed, but the strangest thing was (although Jeremie was the only one who connected the two) that when someone had a headache around Matt, he either began to like that person immensely, or despise them to no end. Jeremie had his theories as to what this might mean, but... could something that far-fetched actually be true? Perhaps he was just over-reacting, but it seemed that whenever anyone thought he was over-reacting he was correct.  
  
After he picked up his lunch, he went to find a table that could accommodate himself, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi, and no sooner had he sat down than the others joined him.   
"This stuff is disgusting! Sometimes I wonder where the cafeteria gets its food. I can just picture them scraping road kill onto a bun. Hey, I think there's a tail in my burger!" Said Odd between enormous bites of food.  
"You do mean was a tail in your burger, right?" Yumi said, watching in disgust as Odd licked his fingers. "You eat so fast I was surprised you could register anything about your food at all."  
"Guys, quiet down! I have something serious I want to talk to you about," whispered Jeremie, checking to make sure no one was watching.  
"Xana?" Ulrich asked.   
"No, Matt," answered Jeremie. Instantly Odd and Ulrich burst into laughter.   
"Who?" asked a perplexed Yumi.   
"Einstein's new best friend," giggled Odd. With that, Ulrich wiped his eyes and explained to Yumi about their encounters with this strange new boy. By the end of the tale, Yumi was scowling down at Jeremie.   
"That's your 'something serious'? Honestly, you had me scared for a moment, Jeremie! Don't do that unless it's a topic of life and death or something!"   
"No, really! I was being serious! I think there is something strange going on with Matt!" Insisted Jeremie, now very disgruntled.   
"Like what?" Asked a voice right behind him. Jeremie started and turned around. Standing there was Matt, looking innocently confused. Jeremie groaned inwardly. "Like what?" Matt repeated. When no one answered, Matt shrugged and took the seat next to Jeremie.   
Odd, who was sitting on Jeremie's other side, introduced Matt to Yumi and then went back to his food. Everyone ate quietly for a while (an incredible accomplishment for Odd), but after a few minutes, Jeremie's head began to tingle. Instantly he looked over at Matt. He was eating at a normal pace, his face expressionless. Jeremie shivered and went back to his food, but he hardly had time to lift his fork when Matt suddenly whipped around to face him. Jeremie was astounded at the change that had come over Matt. In less than a second he had gone from a boy happily eating his lunch to... this. There was no trace of a smile now. He looked like a trapped rat, terrified and shivering, and for a long while everyone stared at him, and he just stared at Jeremie.   
"How long have you known?" Matt managed to sputter.   
"You mean I'm right?" Jeremie asked, bewildered.   
"Yeah," Matt whispered, "Yeah."   
"WHAT!!" cried Odd, angry at being left out. "What is it?" Ulrich and Yumi nodded, looking very confused. Matt just shook his head and stared at his food. Finally he looked up.  
"Promise you won't tell? Because if you do..."   
"That depends on what you're going to tell us," Ulrich growled. Matt flinched.   
"Fine. Decide for yourselves. But just know that if anyone besides you finds out, I could be sentenced back to Hell." The Lyoko gang gave each other a glance, and then turned back to Matt.   
"I am being hunted. There's a group of scientists who want to find me and turn me back into an experiment for the rest of my life. They don't consider me human. Maybe I'm not, I don't know, but I don't care. If finding out means giving myself back to them, I'd rather just be a mystery. I spent almost all my life in their labs, being prodded and poked and measured by them. Only recently did I manage to escape. This school is nothing more than a temporary hideout for me. Soon I'll have to leave again and find somewhere new." There was silence for a while, except for the happy chatter of the other diners.   
"Wow, Einstein," said Odd suddenly. "If you figured out all that, you're smarter then I thought!"   
Matt shook his head. "No, I was just giving you a little background information. A pleasant little story from way back when." Matt sighed. "No, Jeremie just figured out I'm psychic."   
Stunned silence greeted this pronunciation. No one could believe what they were hearing. Yumi glanced at Jeremie, disbelief etched into every line of her face. Odd tried to lean across Jeremie to get a better view, as if trying to see if Matt would sprout fangs and foam at the mouth. Ulrich just stared blankly at Matt. He was staring when Matt picked up his fork halfheartedly and then dropped it, and he was staring when Matt put his face into his hands. But mostly, he was staring when Matt took off his baseball cap and scratched his head. He only saw it for an instant, but it was unmistakably clear. He looked around to see if anyone else in the Lyoko group had seen it too, but they were now talking quietly. Ulrich felt his palms going sweaty as his eyes narrowed at the... thing sitting not three feet from him. He had to tell them what he had just observed. He had to tell them everything they had just heard might be a lie.   
Suddenly Matt rose from his seat. He was his old happy self again, a big smile plastered on his face.   
"Well, time for the afternoon portion of school! I can't wait!" And as he strolled past the Lyoko group on his way to the door, he whispered, "If I wasn't being chased by madmen, you can tell I'd make a great actor!"   
  
When Matt had left the cafeteria, Ulrich seized his chance. He leaned in close so no one could hear, and motioned for the others to follow suit.   
"Don't trust a hair on his head."   
Yumi looked at him, aghast. "Ulrich! Why on earth should we think he's lying to us! He seemed truthful enough to me, and the terror he showed was certainly genuine. I think you're being insensi-"   
"No!" Ulrich cut in, "I don't _think_ we can't trust him, I _know_ we can't trust him. That kid has the mark of Xana on his forehead."

* * *

Surprise, surprise! Heh, heh, heh! I love a good cliffhanger! I have this whole thing planned out for you, so come back to see how it plays out! (and please leave a review after every chapter) 


	4. Matt's Forehead

Well, here it is. Finally. So sorry it took so long! It's been sitting on my computer for months, half done,but I could never quite seem to get around to finishing it. Tell me what you think, and I might just make an effort to get the next one up quicker...

* * *

Chapter 4: Matt's Forehead

The end of that day's classes found Jeremie in his room, lying on his bed and thinking the day over. It had been so strange... the sudden arrival of Matt, his peculiar abilities, his story. His forehead. Yes, out of all of Matt's oddities, his forehead was the strangest. Ulrich was convinced he had seen the mark of Xana there, but Jeremie had yet to see it for himself. Matt had never once removed his hat after lunch, so Jeremie never had the opportunity to check for the mark. Jeremie had also noticed that after lunch no one had had any mysterious headaches around Matt. He had been very quiet, and seemed subdued, but if Xana was involved, there was no real way to tell for sure...

"Jeremie!" His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a familiar female voice coming from his computer.

"Oh, hello, Aelita! It's really good to see you!"

"Yeah, its good to see you, too, but you seem to be really excited considering I just saw you last night in the Xana attack," Aelita pointed out.

"Yeah, well," Jeremie blushed furiously, "It's nice to see you when you're not being chased by monsters."

"Well, that's true," Aelita smiled, and nodded.

"So, Aelita, what's up?" Jeremie said, more seriously. "Any Xana activity?

"No, I'm fine... Just lonely, I guess..."

Jeremie felt that if he blushed any deeper, his face would melt. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all. This could more than make up for Matt... "Well, I suppose I could keep you company-"  
_Knock_,_ knock_,_ knock_.

"_Damn! Who could that possibly be? Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi know not to bother me when I go in here alone-_"

_Knock, knock knock._

Jeremie sighed. "Who is it?"

"Your new roommate," answered an all-too-familiar voice.

"Oh, no," Jeremie whispered, eyes widening.

"What is it, Jeremie?" inquired Aelita.

"No time now, Aelita! Hide! I'll contact you later!" Aelita nodded, confused, and her window winked out of existence. Jeremie hurriedly spun his chair around to face the door. He took a moment to collect himself, then called, in a falsely cheery voice, "Come in, Matt."

And in he came. Or rather, in he stumbled. Matt was burdened with a large, borwn, tattered trunk, stuffed to bursting with his belongings. He staggered backward into Jeremie's dorm, pulling the enormous trunk, and heaved it up onto his new bed. Matt stood for only a second longer before collapsing next to his trunk.

"You don't really realize," Matt wheezed, "How far it is from the Principal's office to here until you have to drag _that _around."

Jeremie forced a smile, then got up to shut the door.

"I'll get it," Matt wheezed. Jeremie turned to him, about to tell him he could take care of it, only to see Matt lazily flick his wrist. Jeremie was confused for about a second, because that was how long it took the door to swing shut.

Jeremie stood there, stunned. Matt was telekinetic? He didn't expect this... If Matt really was an agent of Xana, that could be very, very bad...

"I didn't know you were... could do that," Jeremie said, attempting to sound conversational, but at the same time trying to control his racing heart.

Matt gasped, a look of exaggerated shock on his face. "You mean I've _never_ told you in all the-" here Matt checked his watch, "_Seven hours_ I've known you?!? What kind of a _horrible_ friend am I? I mean, a _good_ friend would tell you _all_ of his deepest, darkest secrets _right away_," His voice was dripping with sarcasm, but it was clear by his wide grin that he had meant it as a joke.

"So if that was your 'deepest, darkest secret,' why did you tell me at all?" Jeremie retorted, slightly stung.

Matt sighed. "Well, a couple of reasons. One, we're alone. Two, you already knew I was psychic, and three," Matt shot Jeremie a small smile, "I _love_ showing off."

_Showing off?_ Jeremie thought. _That really doesn't sound like Xana. But then again, it wouldn't hurt to be sure..._

"Why do you always wear your hat? It's not sunny in here or anything, and, come to think of it, I don't know if it's even allowed in school. Why don't you take it off?"

Matt frowned slightly at this. He sat up and stared Jeremie right in the eye. "Well, it's kind of embarrassing..." His voice trailed off, and Jeremie was surprised to see him go red. This wasn't Xana-esque behavior! He had expected a slightly more violent and mysterious answer, something along the lines of "Why does it matter to you, insult?!? Just drop it, and you won't get hurt."

"What could possibly be so embarrassing that you have to wear a hat to hide it? Anyway, I won't care. You're probably hot under that thing. Just take it off," Jeremie reasoned, and he badgering was rewarded. Matt sighed, and slowly removed his hat. Jeremie gasped. There, printed clearly on Matt's head, was the mark of Xana. That hideous, eye-shaped emblem that had made his life, and the life of his friends so difficult... and that had kept his love away from him. Jeremie wanted to hit it, to break it, to destroy it once and for all, but then –

"HA!!!" Matt cried. "I KNEW you'd think it was ugly!" Jeremie was brought back to Earth with a bump as Matt crammed his navy baseball cap back onto his brown hair. He shook himself, then, before his brain was over the shock, muttered "Huh? Think what was ugly?"

"This stupid, ugly birthmark! It's so weird! It's like a tattoo or something, and if you are trying to run from someone, especially someone whose been studying, examining, and experimenting on you for years, that is NOT a good thing to have," Matt said quietly, shuddering.

"You mean," Jeremie said, mind still reeling, "You have no idea what that is?"

"No," Matt replied, now sulky. "Why, is it something special?"

"Wait right there," Jeremie ordered, and dashed out to get Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd, leaving Matt in a state of complete confusion.


	5. A Matter of Trust

Chapter 5: A Matter of Trust

Within five minutes Jeremie was back, panting, with his three best friends in toe.

"Einstein, what is going on?" Odd whined.

"Yeah, Jeremie, has there been a Xana attack or something?" Yumi inquired, a look of worry in her eyes.

"What is Xana?"

Yumi and Odd gave a start. They hadn't noticed Matt sitting there. Ulrich hadn't either, but he didn't jump. He just stared at Matt. "Jeremie," he finally growled, "What is _he_ doing here?" His voice carried of tone of such complete loathing that it would have made any normal man cower. Fortunately for Matt, he was not "normal."

"I," said he, rising to his feet, "Happen to be Jeremie's new roommate. Do you have a problem with that?" His voice was calm, and his face, though outwardly impassive, had a spark of anger behind his blue eyes.

"As a matter of fact," Ulrich replied, "Yes, I do!" And he sprang on top of Matt.

"Ulrich, No!" Jeremie cried, but it was too late. Ulrich was punching every bit of Matt he could reach, and Matt was returning fire with equal ferocity. "I WILL NOT HAVE YOU ENDANGERING THE LIVES OF MY FRIENDS, XANA!" Ulrich cried, as his hand connected hard with Matt's stomach. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Matt shouted back through a bloody lip, his foot finding Ulrich's chin. Yumi and Odd were shouting, Jeremie was pleading for the pair to stop, the dorm was being destroyed with the effectiveness of a tornado until, finally, Ulrich grabbed Matt's hat and yanked it off his head.

"THERE!" Ulrich cried. He was pointing at Matt's forehead, where the Xana emblem was exposed. Yumi and Odd now took up fighting stances, too. Ulrich wiped a drizzle of blood from his chin, then, face full of hatred, he said, in a deadly whisper, "Explain _that_ away, Xana!"

Matt stared at Ulrich for a few seconds, his mouth hanging open and a look of rage on his face. "What the _hell_ is going on? Why is my stupid birthmark such a big deal? Jeremie freaked out, now you three – what is going on?"

It was instantly apparent that Matt's remark had momentarily disarmed Ulrich. He looked confused for a second or two, before a look of realization followed by (yet again) rage came back over his features. "You're a good actor, Xana, but we've been fighting you for more than a year. You think we can't tell it's you? Give it up. We know you're in there. Why don't you-"

"What's going on here?"

Jim's sudden appearance caught everyone by surprise. Jeremie, Odd and Yumi all gave a start and turned to face him, but Matt and Ulrich gave no indication they had noticed anything, and their eyes remained locked onto one another.

Jim looked furiously around at the trashed beds, Matt's belongings now scattered all over the floor, and finally to Matt and Ulrich's bruised and bloody faces. He swelled like a balloon. "What is going on here?" he repeated. "Have you been fighting?"

Jeremie, Odd and Yumi glanced nervously at Matt and Ulrich.

"Well?" Jim persisted.

"No," Matt said, still eyeing Ulrich's throat, "We haven't been fighting."

"Really?" said Jim, incredulously. Again his eyes swept over the beds, the floor, and the two boy's faces.

"Really," Matt responded. "Ulrich and I have just invented a new full-contact sport."

"_Right_," said Jim, apparently delighted at the chance to expel this kid on his first day (Ulrich silently agreed). "Please tell me the name of this new sport, because if you don't, I might just take you to the Principal!"

"Extreme housewarming," answered Matt, without missing a beat.

"Oh," said Jim, dispirited and deflating rapidly. "I guess that makes sense... you did just move in..."

Odd, Yumi and Jeremie all breathed a sigh of relief, thanking heaven for Jim's pea-sized brain.

"But," Jim went on, determined to punish _someone_, "Odd, Ulrich, Yumi; you shouldn't be in here! This isn't your dorm room! Wait a minute. Yumi, you shouldn't be up in the boy's dorms - or any dorms, for that matter, but especially the boy's ones – at all! Get outside, all three of you!" And with that, Jim stomped off in a towering rage. Kids were too smart these days.

Odd and Yumi started towards the door, closely followed by Jeremie. "Ulrich," Jeremie said, tensely, "Let's go outside..."

Finally Ulrich looked up. "Fine. I'm coming." And with a last, icy glance at Matt, he followed the others out. Jeremie stood alone in the doorway. "Matt, I think you should-"

"I'm staying here," Matt said coldly, fixing Jeremie with a frigid stare. "I need to clean the blood off my stuff. See you later." He walked to the door, and slammed it in Jeremie's face. Jeremie sighed, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Good. Matt volunteering not to come near Ulrich again was a good thing.

* * *

Less than a minute later, the Lyoko gang was assembled at their favorite tree, and in the midst of a heated discussion.

"We can't trust him," Ulrich said, stubbornly.

"Why not? I know he's got the mark of Xana, but he did seem really confused when Ulrich mentioned him. It could just be a coincidence! And don't forget what he told us about" Yumi lowered her voice to a whisper "Being hunted by those scientists."

"Oh, come on!" Odd said, with a snort of laughter. "That was the dumbest thing I've ever heard! I agree with Ulrich. This kid has something to do with Xana. Psychic. Ha! Yeah, right."

"How do you explain him reading our minds, then, huh?" Jeremie retorted. "His psychic abilities are actually the only thing I know to be true about him."

"Come on, Jeremie, be realistic!" Ulrich snapped. Some younger kids passing by were gawking at hisblossoming black eye, and he gave them a look of pure evil. As they were running back inside as fast as they could, Ulrich turned back to Jeremie. "I never thought you would believe in that kind of thing. His 'mind reading' could be lucky guesses!"

"That's not all he can do," Jeremie replied, quietly.

"What do you mean?" inquired Yumi.

"He's telekinetic, too."

"Tele-whata?" said Odd. "Sounds like some kind of weird TV repair company."

"It means he can move things with his mind," Yumi explained.

"And how do you know this, Jeremie?" Ulrich asked incredulously.

"I saw him slam my door with a flick of his wrist," snapped Jeremie.

"So he can shut a door, big deal!" Odd said carelessly.

"How do you know that's all he can do?" Jeremie fired at Odd. Odd shifted uncomfortably and stared at the ground.

"Let's say for a minute that Ulrich is right, and Matt is an agent of Xana," Jeremie continued. "If he is very good at telekinesis, he could do a lot of damage if he was let into the city. Imagine cars flying around, trees flipped through the air like toothpicks, people yanked from buildings and dragged down the street!" Everyone was silent for a moment as they considered this terrifying possibility.

"So what do you suggest we do, Jeremie?" asked Ulrich, shaken, but not about to show it.

"We need to go to Lyoko. Now. We need to see if anything is up. Last time I talked to Aelita she said she didn't see anything suspicious, but even she – as much as I hate to admit it - can be fooled by Xana. Let's just go to the factory and see if there are any activated towers, or anything that looks like Xana activity at all. Agreed?"

Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich all nodded; Ulrich still looked grumpy.

"Agreed," said Matt's voice from behind the tree.

Ulrich gave a roar of fury and dashed around to the back. The others followed to find Ulrich clutching Matt's shirt and pressing him into the tree.

"You followed us?" Ulrich hissed in Matt's face.

"No, dumbass," Matt answered calmly, rolling his eyes, "I'm just having an out-of-body experience."

"Why?" asked Yumi, hands on hips, frown on face.

"Why not?" retorted Matt, unhelpfully. "I just had a fight because I'm apparently accused of being someone – or something – I've never heard of. I figured a little eavesdropping might be able to tell me why I almost lost a couple good teeth. Plus," he went on, with a glance at Jeremie, "I got the blood out of my clothes." The Lyoko gang stared at him, livid. Matt sighed. "Listen, take me to this factory of yours, and I'll forget this ever happened. I just want to know why you guys are so uptight about me."

"Absolutely not!" Ulrich spat. "We-"

"-Haven't got a choice," Jeremie finished for him. "He's already heard too much. He knows our secret. Well, enough to turn us in, anyway." Jeremie said with a sigh. He gave Matt a furious look. "I was almost ready to trust you," he said.

"I did trust you," Matt said, "Until you started accusing me of being a 'zana,' or whatever."

Everyone glared at everyone else for a few more seconds, then Jeremie turned away.

"Let's go."


End file.
